A magistrate has warned a teenager his youth was 'slipping away' when sentencing him to a period of seven months' imprisonment for offending committed around Ballarat.
Subscribe now for unlimited access.
$0/
(min cost $0)
or signup to continue reading
Jay Marsden, 18, faced the Ballarat Magistrates' Court on Friday and pleaded guilty to 31 charges.
Magistrate Ron Saines said the offending included car thefts, burglary, theft, handling stolen goods and breaching bail conditions in June when he was taken back into custody.
"The offending involved premeditated and dishonest use of other people's motor vehicles," he said.
Marsden was also charged with handling stolen goods relating to a $1500 BMX bike stolen in an aggravated burglary and negligently dealing with proceeds of crime.
Your youth is slipping away.
- Magistrate Ron Saines
His palm print was found on a stolen car and he stole jewellery from a unit that was damaged by fire.
Marsden broke into a service station that was under construction and stole goods that were to be shelved for opening in December.
He was also charged with stealing alcohol from retail stores in January.
The court heard Marsden had been in and out of custody since February when he was released from custody on a deferred sentence.
But he was remanded again after committing further offending in April, then bailed, but remanded again for further offending in June.
A defence lawyer said Marsden had intentions to rehabilitate and he had expressed his remorse.
"There are still prospects for him for rehabilitation," she said.
"He has been in adult custody... and that is not helpful in terms of his prospects for rehabilitation and will only further entrench him into the criminal justice system."
Magistrate Ron Saines said Marsden must engage with help offered to him to change his path.
"Your youth is slipping away," he said.
"You have entered adulthood without education, skills and a solid history of drug abuse and crime.
"If you are going to salvage any life for yourself.. with any form of meaning you are going to have to change direction pretty quickly.
"You are going to have to engage with services which are being given to you. You are running out of time to do it."
Marsden was sentenced to seven months' in youth detention and a 12-month supervision order.
He has already served 83 days in pre-sentence detention.
If you are seeing this message you are a loyal digital subscriber to The Courier, as we made this story available only to subscribers. Thank you very much for your support and allowing us to continue telling Ballarat's story. We appreciate your support of journalism in our great city.